Deadly Secrets
by summer-echo-11
Summary: 2 secrets surround Forks - 1. No one knows that the reason Bella left Phoenix was because of her secrets. 2. Paul has had to keep his imprint a secret for months. So when the secrets are finally revealed, no one expects how badly their lives will change
1. Secret Number 1

_hi everyone! so I know that I have two other stories that I'm working on, but this story wouldn't leave me alone, so I decided to do it :)_

_so since today's my birthday, I've decided to update all of my stories (maybe some multiple times :) ) as kind of a birthday present for my readers/reviewers_

_this takes place after new moon and will go into eclipse. enjoy! :)_

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I was walking over to my red truck once the school day ended. It was a really boring day. My friends were in none of my classes, and I still had people like Mike Newton trying to get my attention, even though I was with Edward.

Would they ever realize that I was taken? By the most beautiful boy ever I might add.

As I opened the door of the truck, I smelled Alice coming over. I bet your thinking, "Don't you mean heard?" You would be wrong. I meant smelled.

That overly sickening sweet smell engulfed me as she came up from behind.

"Hey Bella!" she exclaimed.

"Hey Alice," I said. I got in the driver's seat of the truck and she stood in front of the opened window.

"We still have to have that talk, you know." She grew more serious, and I knew exactly what she was talking about.

I sighed. "Yeah, I know. Why don't you come over right now? Charlie isn't home, and I could explain everything to you."

She nodded her head and climbed in the car. I revved up the engine and was about to pull out of the parking lot, but Edward came rushing over.

"Bella! Where are you going?" he asked. He was so protective of me, and I times I liked it, but at other times it got very annoying. I could protect myself.

Ever since that time when he left me behind and I became closer with Jake, he can't seem to leave me alone.

"I'm just hanging out with Alice. Everything will be fine," I said with a smile on my face. Actually, it might not be fine. It was times like this that I was that I was thankful that Edward couldn't read my mind.

He nodded his head and went to his silver Volvo. I put the car in drive and headed out the parking lot and to my house. The car ride was silent except for the radio that was playing new pop songs.

After about 10 minutes, I reached my house and pulled into my driveway. Alice popped out of the car, and I followed her towards the door.

"I'll meet you upstairs, okay?" I said. She nodded her head and went silently up to my room. I grabbed a big bag of chips and met her up there.

I sat on the bed across from her, and I opened the bag of chips. As I kept eating the chips, an awkward silence came between us.

"So..." I drawled. "What do you want to know?"

"I guess how you kept this a secret from us. You've been hiding this from all of us for almost a year, and I'm sure that we should have already known that you were one of them," she said, obviously troubled at the fact that her family could miss something as big as this.

"I give to my thanks to perfume and learning how to control the smell. Every since I became one, I knew that my smell would make me known to what was out there, so I tried to find legends and stuff so I could figure out how to make the smell go away. With a combination of them, I figured out how to control it and make it fainter, and the perfume did the rest. I guess my ancestors knew that they had to keep the smell from vampires sometimes."

"But then why could I see your future if I can't see the others' futures?"

"Maybe that has to do with why Edward can't read my mind. We still don't know how that works, so maybe it affects your power too."

She nodded her head slowly. "You know that we're going to have to tell Edward this, right?"

I sat up bolt right. "NO!" I nearly screamed. "He can't know about this, at all! Got it? If he found out, he would hate. I've tried so hard to act normal around him, and I love him, so I don't want to mess this up. And that whole thing about me turning into a vampire? It's all an act! I can't let him find out now!"

"Fine, fine. I won't tell him," Alice said, and a smile crept up my face. "But if Carlisle or Jasper asks, I have to tell then."

I leaned back down on the bed. "I don't mind if they know. I'm pretty sure that they would be okay with it, but I just can't have anyone else know. I don't even want to know what that would do to my relationship with them. Rosalie already hates me enough as it is."

"Why don't you tell Jacob then? I'm sure he would love to know."

"I don't want to tell any of them. I've gone this far without their help, and I can continue without it."

She nodded her head. "Can you show me? I don't want my family attacking you if your on our land."

I nodded my head and she got off of the bed. Before she stepped out of the door, though, she turned back around and bore into my eyes.

"Are there any other secrets you want to tell me, Bella?" Alice looked understanding, and it almost made me want to tell her everything.

But she didn't crack me.

"No, there's nothing else."

She smiled and bounced down the stairs and out the door. I could sense that she went in the woods, obviously wanting me to follow her.

I walked down the stairs, deep in thought. I couldn't tell her anything else, right? I mean, she's one of my best friends, but I didn't even want her to know this. I can't have her knowing anything else.

I knew that if I even talked about it with her, I would break down crying or I would go into a trance. The Thing and the death, along with all of the secrets, were finally starting to fade, and I couldn't let them come back now.

With my new decision, I raced down to the woods to show her the only secret she would ever find out.

My mom moving wasn't the only reason why I left Phoenix, Arizona. The secrets and lies became to much to handle.


	2. Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!

_thank you all so much for your reviews! its the most i've gotten for one chapter, and you have no idea how excited i got! :)_

_enjoy!_

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"Edward, I really need to see Jake! I only have another few weeks before I become like you, and I want to have as much time as I can with him. He'll never want to talk to me after I change, and you know that. After that, you'll have me all to yourself," I lied to Edward, trying to convince him to let me go to the bonfire.

Edward and I were sitting in my kitchen eating spaghetti. Well, I was. He just had a plate in front of him for Charlie's sake.

I knew that pretty soon I would be called out on my lie, but I was trying to buy time. I needed to figure out a way to tell Edward my secret, and try to make him understand.

I wanted to go to the bonfire for three reasons. One, I really wanted to see Jake again. I know that I'm being selfish, and I don't want to hurt him anymore, but I can't live without him. Two, I wanted to hear the legends that my ancestors were apart of. Three, I thought that maybe - just maybe - I might tell them my secret too.

And I also felt this pull to go there. I have no idea why, because the only one that I really know there is Jake, but I felt like something big was going to happen.

After seeing that Alice didn't flip out when I told her my secret, I began to think about telling the pack what I was. Maybe it would help me, and I wouldn't be alone anymore. If Charlie knew who he really was, then it would be so much easier to tell people, but because of the choices that my great-grandma made, he doesn't know a thing and I can't tell him anything.

I heard Edward sigh, and I came out of my thoughts. "I don't think of you as property, Bella. And I don't own you. So I guess I can't force you not to go, now can I?"

I smile up at him and I knew that I won. I hugged him and raced upstairs to call Jake. I didn't need Edward so close to me when I called him, even though I knew that he would hear everything, so I didn't want to stay in the kitchen to call him.

"Hello?" Jake groggily asked when he picked up the phone. I figured that he just woke up from a nap. Sam was really making them work hard. I could rarely go out anymore because I was afraid that they would find me.

"Jake! I just wanted to let you know that I can come to the bonfire tonight," I said.

"Great Bells!" he exclaimed, and he got noticeably happier. "I'll meet you at the border at 6, alright?"

"Got it. Bye Jake."

"Bye Bella."

I hung up the phone and went straight to my room. I hopped in the shower and let the warm water fall around me. After washing my hair and body, I got out of the shower. I walked into my room and jumped, almost dropping my towel, when I saw Edward sitting on my bed.

He looked up at me, but quickly looked away. "Sorry about that, Bella." He better be sorry. I don't want him here when I'm almost naked! Although, that could lead to something that I did want... "I'll leave now." He flew out of the window.

I came out of my daze and changed into dark-wash skinny jeans, converse, and a plain white, long sleeve shirt with a V neck. After drying my hair so that it was perfectly straight, I grabbed a plain, dark blue hoodie and walked downstairs.

Charlie was sitting at the kitchen table, reading a newspaper.

"Hey dad," I said. He looked up and smiled.

"Hey Bells. Where are you going?"

"I'm going to a bonfire with Jake. You okay with that?" I asked, although I was positive he was. He was always fine with me doing something with Jake.

"That's fine, Bells. Actually, that's great!" he exclaimed, and I laughed at his happy expression.

I looked at the clock, and 5:45 shown in bright red. "I gotta go. Bye!"

"Bye!"

I walked out the door and to my red pick up truck. I opened the door and was surprised when I found Edward sitting in the driver's seat.

"Why are you here?" I asked. Not that I was complaining or anything.

"I'm taking you to the border," he said.

I nodded my head and walked over and sat down in the passenger's seat. He started the car and drove down the road.

"Are you sure that you want to go?" Edward asked. He looked at me, obviously hoping that I would tell him no and to bring me back.

"Yes, Edward. I told you before, I want to spend as much time with Jake as possible before I change." Lie. I wasn't going to change. "I only have until graduation." Another lie. "And then I'll be with you for eternity." I may be with you for eternity, but not the way that you think that I am. "And I'll be fine, Edward. I won't get hurt."

Edward gripped the steering wheel so hard that I thought that it was going to break. "They're unpredictable mutts, Bella! They could get mad and kill you in that instant! I don't trust them at all!" he said.

That really hurt. I know that he never knew that I was one of them, but even calling the pack mutts, he was offending me too. I kept trying to make him stop calling them that, but he would never listen to me!

"Edward, I told you before. I don't want you guys calling them mutts, and I don't want them calling you guys bloodsuckers or leeches!"

Edward was pissed. But he calmed down soon enough, which I was thankful for. I didn't want to leave him mad. I would be worrying about him all night if I did.

We reached the border by that time, and Edward stopped that car.

"I can't go any further, Bella. Call me when you want me to pick you up, alright?"

I nodded my head, and he went flying out of the car. I was about to get out of the car and go to the driver's seat, when Jake opened the door and climbed in. So that was why Edward left so early.

"Ready, Bells?" he asked.

"Yup," I said. A big grin broke out on his face.

He put the car in drive and took off down the road.


	3. Secret Number 2

_hey everyone! thank you all so much for the reviews! 15 reviews for two chapters? thats incredible :D i love you all so much!_

_sorry that this is a late update. i only had time to update my other story Full Moon (a crossover between H2O: Just Add Water and Twilight - JacobxOC), which i'm really enjoying writing, before my busy week started. if anyone is going to either the paramore and the goo goo dolls concert, watch out, because they're freaking amazing! :D_

_so I hope you like this chapterr. enjoy!_

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(Paul POV)

My paws pounded the ground as I ran through the woods. Sam had us on extra patrols since Embry, Sam, and Jared were helping Leah and Seth because they just phased. Leah wasn't making it easy for us to explain all of this crap.

Jacob and Quil were helping the Elders get ready for the bonfire tonight, so I was alone on patrol until I was called back.

Being alone on patrol was the only time that I could actually let my mind wander without one of the pack listening in. Even though the mind connection was good when we were hunting bloodsuckers, it was damn annoying at any other time. I got no privacy at all.

Which really sucked when I was trying to keep this big of a secret from Jacob and the rest of the pack.

It's been three months. Three fucking months since I imprinted. And it's been hell since I can't tell anyone! Let alone her because I never get the chance!

Jacob would murder me. He's so damn protective of her! That's supposed to be my job! I'm going to tell him soon, screw his protectiveness of her, but I need a way to talk to her first. I don't need Jacob to be pissed off with me, because he'll just get Embry, Seth, and Quil on his side, and we'll have a war between our pack. And then Sam would be pissed and punish me. If I have her on my side, it probably won't affect the pack that much.

But the leech-lov- shit, I can't even call her that anymore!- she is in love with the bloodsucker!

I don't know how the hell I imprinted on Jacob's obsession. Was there someone up there that hated me, and made my imprinting such a disaster? And as an added bonus, she hates me! My first impression was probably one that could have gone better. Why am I such an idiot?

_The girl that Jacob was obsessed with was running towards us, obviously angry with us._

_"So what do you think we did wrong now?" Jared whispered to me._

_I laughed at him. Whenever we saw Bella anywhere, she always seemed to be angry at us for some reason._

_"I have no idea. Maybe Jacob told her about the time when we tricked him into modeling Kim's clothes for her instead of you?"_

_Jared started gripping his sides in pain from laughing to much. "That was great! Jacob's face was priceless when we left him with her. And do you know what the great part of it was? Kim wasn't mad at me, and she wants Jacob to do it from now on!"_

_"We totally got him there!" I said. Sam jabbed me in the ribs, which was his way of telling me to stop. I rolled my eyes and punched Jared in the arm so he would stop too._

_I don't know why Sam was acting pissed off. She's nothing special. And if me and Jared wanted to joke around, then we could joke around._

_It's not like I cared about her opinion on anything. I hated her, and I've never even met her. She was in loved with the fucking bloodsucker, and she had Jake wrapped around her little finger. He would do anything for her, and if you were on patrol with him, then all you would hear was him praising Bella. He needed to get over his stupid obsession with her._

_"What did you do? What did you do to him!" she said. She pushed against Sam, but he didn't move an inch._

_She looked over at me and I looked into her chocolate-brown eyes. My whole world stopped. I felt the biggest urge to protect her. I was connected to her, and I knew that I couldn't let anything happen to her. Everything around me didn't matter anymore, except for this one girl._

_Fuck! I imprinted on the leech lover! But the name leech lover didn't suit her anymore. She was to beautiful to be called that. She was my world now; she became my reason for living. I knew then I would do whatever it took it protect her and be as close to her as I could. But I had one problem standing in my way; that damn Edward Cullen._

_"What did we do? What did he do? What did he tell you?" I growled._

_It hurt me to yell at her, but I needed to get my anger out. I imprinted on a girl that loved someone else. All Jake could think about was how Bella still loved the bloodsucker even though he was gone, and that Jake didn't have a chance yet to try and make her love him. I needed to find a way to get her to like me, not Jake or the leech. And if he told her about the werewolves and imprinting, then maybe she would be able to feel something for me because she would know to look for the feeling. Imprinting was supposed to bring those feelings out._

_"Nothing! He tells me nothing 'cause he's scared of you!"_

_I started laughing. Scared? We're like brothers. Even though we fight, we're not scared of each other. The only reason we can't tell anyone is because Sam ordered us not to._

_She smacked me in the face. I couldn't believe it. My imprint just hit me in the face. I thought that she was the one that I was supposed to be with! But now I can see that she has different feelings for me._

_My temper started getting the best of me. I knew that I wouldn't be able to stop phasing. I just hoped that Sam would get her away from me, because I knew that I couldn't move, but I would kill myself if I hurt her. I felt a wave of different emotions hit me. I was angry, sad, confused, hurt. I couldn't keep my emotions in check._

_I phased, and Bella was far away so that I didn't hurt her. Thank God. I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if I hurt her like Sam did to Emily._

_Bella started running away from me and to Jake. That bastard! He was taking _my_ Bella away from me. Hell, when did she become _my_ Bella?_

_She looked back and started running faster away from me. Why did she run away in the first place? I wasn't going to hurt her._

_Then Jake phased, and I had to make it seem like all of my anger was directed towards Jake telling her the secret, not on the fact that I had problems with my imprint already. Damn mind link._

_Jake clawed and bit me, and I knew that I had to keep this a secret from the pack until I got Bella on my side. If this happened just because I phased in front of Bella, imagine the amount of shit that would happen between the pack if Jake found out that I imprinted on his lover._

_I would like you to meet the first werewolf that had to keep a secret between a pack that could hear every single one of your thoughts - me._


	4. What's Imprinting?

_hey everyone! please read this author's note - it has some answers and important stuff in it!_

_i'm incredibly sorry for the long break between my updates! i was going to post this before I left for my trip three weeks ago, but then I had some last minute stuff to do and I was only able to post my other story Full Moon, and then when I got home I had to work on summer work. so again, i'm SO sorry!_

_thank you all so much for the reviews and alerts! i wouldn't have ever imagined that I would have gotten 20 reviews, 38 favorites, and 57 alerts for three chapters. it's incredible! i love you guys for making my days! :)_

_just to clear some things up - i got some reviews about how Bella should really hate the Cullens because their vampires. it's a really good point, one that I probably should have cleared up in the first chapter, but i'll do it now :) she would have originally, but despite the smell and being natural enemies, she still felt intrigued by Edward. after knowing that they didn't feed on humans, she didn't mind them, and began to enjoy their company. she didn't have the hatred that the other wolves had towards them because she didn't grow up with the stories and the Elders warning them about the Cullens. also, vampires and werewolves don't always hate each other. Seth and Jacob eventually grew not to mind them, so for my purposes, i'm making Bella not mind them_

_also, YankeeGirlNJ pointed out that shouldn't Bella have imprinted on Paul too. It's not know whether or not girl werewolves can imprint. and although i would want them to for Leah's sake (i really wish she could have a happy ending!), i'm making them not able to in this story_

_enjoy!_

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_"It's not like love at first sight, really. It's more like gravity moves. When you see her, suddenly it's not the earth holding you here anymore. She does. And nothing matters more than her. And you would do anything for her, be anything for her. . ."_

_-Jacob Black_

(Bella POV)

Jake pulled up to his red house and started walking me to the backyard. I saw a bonfire lighting up the dark surrounding forest, the same forest that me and Jake's pack run in almost every day.

I shivered at the sight and the thought of what might happen tonight, but Jake assumed that it was because I was cold, so he pulled me tighter into him. I thought about protesting, but I knew that with Jake, he kept on trying, so I might as well give up now. And it's not like it was harming anyone.

I glanced over at the people sitting around the bonfire. No one was really paying attention to us coming except for the elders, Sam, and... what was his name? Peter? Phil? Pat? No... Paul? That was it! Paul!

Paul looked over at us angrily. He glared at Jake and growled menacingly. The pack whipped their heads over to Paul, confusion clear on their faces. Jake growled back at Paul, too low for human ears, but I could hear it perfectly. The pack glanced over at us, but then they turned back to whoever they were talking to before.

They all probably knew about me and Paul's little encounter that happened when I was trying to figure out why Jake wasn't talking to me. I knew that Jake phased into a werewolf, but I didn't know why he couldn't talk to me. I had never heard of the Alpha giving orders that had to be followed, probably because I was my own Alpha. And then when I went to confront the rest of the pack about it, Paul decided to turn into his furry self. He probably didn't want me here at the bonfire at all, and was pissed when he saw me.

"So why is everyone here?" I asked, trying to break the silence and get Jacob away from glaring at Paul.

He turned his head to me and said, "Well, it's not technically a bonfire party. We have the party after, but before we tell the tribal legends. It's kind of like a ceremony."

I looked down at what I was wearing. "You know, I would have dressed more...appropriately...if I knew that it was a ceremony and not just a party."

His face broke out into a huge grin and he laughed. "You looked fine, Bella. Great, actually. Don't worry about what you're wearing."

I nodded my head. By that time, we reached the fire and we sat down. Paul was still staring at us, well, more like staring at me, and it was kind of creeping me out.

"Why does Paul keep looking over here?" I whispered to Jacob.

"He's never been one for friendly introductions, and he doesn't like it when more people join our little group. He probably doesn't have the best feelings towards you, although I don't know how anyone could ever even think about hating you."

Paul sarcastically laughed at our conversation. I forgot that he could hear everything that we said. That was a pain in the ass. I could never have a private conversation with any of the wolves around.

Bill quieted everyone down, and started the story. He told all of us about Taha Aki, the spirits, the cold ones, and the Third Wife. He said it with such power and dignity, and seemed so proud of his heritage. I could only smile as his face lit up after telling his story.

"Now everyone, time for the food!" Sue Clearwater exclaimed. The boy's faces lit up at the prospect of eating. They started to get up, but Old Quil ordered them to sit back down.

"Not until everyone else has had the chance to get food," he said to the wolves.

The elders, Kim, Emily, Claire, and I walked and got our share of food. I turned back around and looked at the whole pack messing with each other. They were truly more like brothers than friends, and I think that that was what made my decision final. They cared for one another, even if they did tease each other. If I told them I was one of them, wouldn't they treat me the same way? So I was going to tell them that I was a werewolf too. Maybe not tonight, but sometime soon.

I scanned the crowd, and my eyes stopped on a pair of chocolate brown eyes. They looked so sad and desperate, it made my heart reach out to him. And underneath those emotions was hurt, betrayal, and even anger.

I peeled away from his mesmerizing eyes to see who's they were. To say that I was shocked to find out that they belonged to Paul would be an understatement. He saw me notice him and looked longingly at me.

What was going on? Just seconds before, he was growling at me and Jake, and now he just stares at me? Is there something that I'm missing here?

Uncomfortable under his intense gaze, I sat down and started eating my food. The food here was amazing, and I was so freaking mad when the pack got up and ate all of it! I wanted more of it. But then again, I don't think that the people here realized that I ate more food than normal.

Jake sat down next to me with two large plates full of food. He started wolfing the food down and in a matter of minutes all of his food on the first plate was gone.

"Ewww!" I exclaimed. He had a huge line of mustard running down from his mouth to his chin from the second hot dog that he ate.

"What?" he asked, clueless.

I shook my head at him disapprovingly. "You are one disgusting eater, Jake."

"No I'm not!" he argued.

"Oh, yes you are." I took my finger and wiped up all the mustard on his face. I showed him the glob of yellow stuff on my hand and he grimaced at me.

Jake and I were brought out of our conversation by a crashing sound. I whipped my head up and there was Paul, looking straight at me. Anger filled his eyes and he started shaking, but I could see another emotion there. I just didn't know what it was.

His food covered the ground in front of him. Ignoring the mess, he started walking towards the woods once he saw me look at him.

"Paul!" Sam yelled at him. "Calm down and get back here!"

"Don't tell me what the fuck to do, Sam!" he yelled back and stuck up his favorite finger at all of us.

"Qwil?" two-year-old Claire asked. I have to say, she was the most adorable thing I have ever seen.

"Yeah, Claire?"

"What does fuck mean?"

Quil's face became red, and more from anger than embarrassment at being asked the question. Oh, Paul was a fucking dead man.

I put my plate on the ground and stood up. Jake looked questioningly at me.

"I'm going to ask him what his problem is," I growled.

Jake stood up immediately. "NO! He has the worst temper in the world. You're not going alone!"

"Yes, I am, Jake. I can take care of myself. So you're going to stay here, alright?"

"I said no!" he growled. "I'm coming with you. Or better yet, don't go."

"No, your not Jake. I'm going alone, and your staying right here. I can already tell that you and him hate each other, so do you really think I'm gonna get any answers if your there? No. And I'll scream if anything happens, so you can come running to the rescue. I'm going alone," I ordered.

Sighing in defeat, he nodded his head. If I asked, I don't think that he could say no. I took the opportunity and walked into the forest to try and find Paul.

I traced his scent to a small clearing in the forest. He was sitting down on a fallen tree with his head in his hands. When a snap came from the branch I just stepped on, his head shot up from his hands and he glared at me.

"What the hell do you want?" he asked. Surprisingly, his voice wasn't laced with anger, but instead it was soft and sounded hurt.

"I want to know what your problem is. I don't know what I did to you, but you've been acting like a total asshole since the first time I met you. So care to explain what your issue is with me?"

Paul looked hurt. Maybe he wasn't intentionally being an asshole?

No. No, no, no, no. There was no way that he wasn't intentionally being a douche. Why would I even think that? It was like I was trying to give him an excuse for the way that he was acting.

"Me? Have an issue with you?" He laughed humorlessly. "That's incredibly far from the truth. But I do have an issue with your filthy bloodsucker and your overprotective werewolf."

I looked over at him in confusion, but when I realized that he was talking about Edward, my Edward, I became furious. Couldn't they ever get along?

"Edward's done nothing to you! So stop insulting him! You and the other wolves have so many damn prejudices against the vampires, and it's getting annoying! Jake is one of my best friends, and the Cullens are like my family!" Paul growled. "Do you even realize how good of an ally they'd be? No! Because all you care about is being damn enemies. You don't see the good that having them around could do!" I exploded.

"You have no fucking idea how far away from the truth you are," he said venomously. "I'm not fucking pissed because he's a fucking vampire. I'm pissed because of what he is to you." He paused before he said, "You don't feel anything towards me, do you?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" I growled. "Am I supposed too?"

"I thought that imprinting was supposed to make the other person fall in love with you too. She's supposed to have some sort of feelings for me. I'm going to kill Sam," he mumbled, too soft for a human to hear.

I was confused. "What's imprinting?"

Paul grew wide-eyed. "You heard that?" he asked in disbelief.

I nodded my head.

"Damn, I thought I said that soft enough."

"Well, obviously you didn't," I said, trying to cover up the fact that he indeed say it soft enough for me not to hear.

If I was a normal human, of course.

He struggled a bit for the words to say. He kept opening and closing his mouth, making him look like a dumb fish, until he answered about five minutes later.

This was the first time I've ever seen Paul scared. He was usually the tough one, the one that wasn't afraid of anything. And secretly, I admired him for that.

"Bella," Paul started. I didn't even know he knew my name. I thought I was just the vampire girl to him. "Imprinting is when you find your soul mate."


	5. Fate Makes Some Choices

_hey everyone! sorry about the long wait, life got really busy, and I know that that's not an excuse, so again, sorry!_

_thank you all so much for the reviews! I really appreciate them :) and now, onto chapter five! :D_

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_"Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will."_

_~Jawaharlal Nehru_

I stared at him in disbelief. Me? The temperamental's soulmate? Oh, God. No! Never! There was no way that I was his soulmate! I was Edward Cullens', not Paul Haden's!

I started laughing loudly. This had to be a joke that Jake did. He and Paul probably started to get along, and they decided to trick me. That's all. And Jake probably let me go because of the joke, not because I actually asked. I clutched by sides from pain that formed there from me laughing to much. They did a pretty good joke! I almost believed it there for a second.

"Oh, yeah. I'm definitely your soul mate," I said sarcastically. "Good one, Paul. You almost had me going there, but then I remembered I already have a soulmate. Who thought the joke up? You or Jake?"

I looked up, expecting him to be laughing with me, but what I found threw me off guard. He looked hurt, incredibly hurt. Pain covered his eyes and he looked broken. I began to think that he was still going along with the joke. He had to be, right?

But then I looked back at him again. There was no way that he was that good of an actor. So all of those emotions must be real...

"Oh, God," I whispered. My hand flew to my mouth and my brown eyes widened. He wasn't joking. "Paul? Please, please,_ please_ tell me that you're joking."

He shook his head and stared right back into my eyes. "Why would I be joking about something like this? I may have been an asshole before, Bella, but we don't joke about imprinting."

My mouth hung open as I stood in shock. I tried to say something, but everything came out in a stutter. I slowly started walking backwards back to the bonfire, but I stumbled on a log and fell on my butt. Paul just missed catching me, so he held out his hand for me to take. I shook my head fiercely and quickly got up, running away as soon as I was on two feet again.

I don't know where I was running too. My feet slammed against the wet ground, splashing mud against my legs. My body started to feel numb, and I slowed to down to sit on a rock. Tears started to gather in my eyes and they starting coming down. I knew how strong an imprint bond was. I met another wolf back in Phoenix, a real werewolf, and he imprinted on a girl that he met in college. He didn't call it imprinting though; I assumed that imprinting was a term that the shape-shifters here just used.

But did that mean that I had no choice in anything? Was my life planned out before me without my consideration? What if I didn't want to be in a romantic relationship with him? I was in love with Edward!

I wiped my eyes and look down at my hands to see black lines of mascara on my fingers. There was no way that I could go back to the bonfire looking like this. Instead, I took off my clothes and phased into my light brown wolf form.

My paws pounded on the ground as I kept running forward. I knew that it wouldn't take long until I got past the border, but I still did not want to have any encounter with the wolves. I let out a sigh of relief as I crossed the border into the Cullen's territory. I didn't think they would come on this territory right now. I reached my house in record time, threw on my clothes as I phased back in the forest, and walked to my front steps.

Just as I was about to open the door, a loud, agonizing howl pierced the air. My heart closed in around itself, almost as bad as when I thought of Edward during my depression state. But why was it that severe? It's not like I cared for him that much. Maybe, _maybe_, as a friend, but nothing more.

"Bells!" my dad called from the living room couch as I walked in the door. "Why are you home so early? I thought you were staying out late."

"Change of plans. I'm really tired. I'm just gonna head up to bed," I called back. I walked up the stairs and into my room. I fell onto the bed, tired as hell. As much as I tried to ignore it, my mind kept going back to my conversation with Paul. How would I get through this? Do I just leave with Edward, and never come back, hoping to get away from it all? Or would that just make me a coward?

I eventually fell asleep, still no answer to what I was going to do.

* * *

When I woke up the next day, you could tell that I didn't get a good night's sleep. I had bags under my blood-shot eyes, and I felt dizzy when I walked. After changing into a white tank top, dark blue cardigan, jeans, and my converse, I went downstairs, got breakfast, and headed out to school.

Edward was in my driveway to pick me up. I opened the door, and I could already tell that he was fuming. I shrunk slightly into my seat, silently waiting for the blow of words that would surely come.

We were five minutes from school when he finally spoke to me.

"Where the hell where you last night?" he growled. I flinched. He sounded so mad, so _enraged_.

"At the bonfire," I said. My voice came out as a squeak.

"Then why didn't you call me when you went home?"

"I decided I wanted to walk home. I didn't want to be a nuisance to anyone."

"Don't lie to me, Bella," he fumed. "Alice would have seen you if you decided to walk home alone. Once you crossed that border, she would have been able to see you. But she didn't, and that means that one of the mutts came with you."

"I... I didn't want to bother you by calling. Jake offered to take me home, and I was so tired that I didn't complain. That's all, alright?" I said. We reached the school at this point, and I jumped out the car. Saying bye to Edward, I raced to the school.

"I know that that isn't all, Bella," I heard him whisper. I knew that he wasn't talking to me, so I continued walking like I didn't hear anything. "I'm going to find out, I promise you that."

I shut my eyes and walked into the door of the school, hoping that he really would never find out. I knew what I had to do. I couldn't let Paul get hurt because of this; it wasn't his fault. So I would try to convince Edward to leave with me now. It was the only way this would work out so that no one got hurt and I could still be with my own, _chosen_ soulmate.


	6. Perfection

_hey everyone! sorry for the long wait! thank you to all my reviewers, alerters, and favoriters! 13 reviews this time! :D you all make my day! please read the note at the end, it has some important stuff. and, as always, enjoy! :)_

* * *

_"The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself."_

_~ Anna Quindlen_

The school day ended with a plan in my head. I still had those plan tickets that Carlisle and Esme gave me for my birthday, so I decided that I was going to try and take Edward away from here and go somewhere else. Maybe Alaska? I didn't figure out that detail yet. I really wanted to use those tickets to go see my mom, but I guess that will just have to wait.

The ride with Edward was silent, and he dropped me off at my house without a word. I walked through the door, said hi to Charlie, and went upstairs to my room. It was Friday, and my teachers didn't give me any homework, so I was free tonight. I thought about calling Edward, but I figured that he would still be mad, so I told myself to forget that idea. I decided to call Angela.

I dialed her number, and she picked up on the second ring. "Hey, Angela. It's Bella."

"Hi Bella! What's up?"

"I was wondering if you were doing anything tonight." Charlie would like that. He always wanted to me go out with my other friends.

"Oh... I'm sorry, Bella. I promised Ben that I would go out with him tonight."

"That's alright," I said, slightly disappointed. "Maybe another time?"

"Sounds good. Bye, Bella!"

"Bye."

I tried Jessica too, but she was busy with Mike. My hands automatically started to call Jake's number, but I ended the call before it started to ring. I couldn't face him right now after I ditched him last night at the bonfire. I knew that I was being a coward, but I just couldn't do it.

I flopped down on the bed, bored out of my mind with nothing to do. My mind kept telling me to run in the woods in my wolf form, but I knew that I couldn't do that without the risk of being caught. The pack was still out there looking for Victoria.

I shot up in my bed. Holy crow! Why didn't I realize this before? Why was I letting them all risk their lives when I could just as easily kill her and not let the Cullens _or_ the wolf pack get hurt because of me?

I jumped off my bed and ran down the stairs. I said that I was going to the store to Charlie, and then drove to a secluded side road that was next to the forest. I parked my car on the side of the road, and got out and locked the doors. I walked a little into the woods, took off my clothing, tied it around my ankle with a rope cord that I brought, and phased.

The familiar strength felt good, and it seemed that all of my troubles of today left me when I phased. I cherished my wolf form; it helped me with stress and forget everything bad. I could just run to destroy all my problems.

It was when I ran a few miles into the woods that I was greeted with a sickly sweet stench from whom I knew was Victoria. I immediately raced towards the scent, and within a few minutes, I saw the fiery red hair that I was looking for. No one was chasing after her, so I took my chance and bolted towards her. When I was a few feet from her, she turned back to me and jumped up and away from me.

I let out a low growl and tried to jump up after her. It was useless though; she was to high up for me to catch her. She smirked at me, but then jumped back down and ran away. Was she stupid? She was safe, and then she jumps back down into danger territory again?

Instead of dwelling on it more, I chased right back after her. She jumped over a large ditch in the ground, and looked back at me. A malicious smirk rested on her face, which grew bigger with each step I took towards the ditch. As I reached the edge of the ditch, I jumped over and landed a few feet from her.

Her eyes bulged. It clicked in my head that this must be where the border was. If I was part of the La Push pack, I wouldn't have been able to go over the treaty line, but since I was part of my own pack, I could. There was no treaty that I had to follow.

But as I thought about it, didn't that treaty only state that the vampires couldn't go in the La Push side? Maybe the werewolves didn't go across the treaty line either?

She jumped back over to the La Push side, and I followed her. At this point, I knew that she was playing games with me, so I stood my ground when she ran off. She must have noticed that I wasn't following her, because she turned around and stared at me.

Right before she was about to run away again, she whipped her head to her right. She snarled and that smirk came back. Even though I probably should have taken this time to attack her, I became intrigued at what she was looking at. I looked over and saw a huge black wolf sprinting towards her. From Jake's descriptions, I knew that this was Sam. I expected him to acknowledge me, but instead, he ran after Victoria, running past me and ignoring me in the process.

I followed him, thinking that I should help him. It seemed that he was alone, and I knew that there would be a better chance that we would be able to catch her if there was more than one werewolf chasing her.

We were catching up to her and him, but I still knew that Sam didn't notice me. He was too engrossed in catching Victoria. When we jumped over a river, I saw a group of wolves running to help Sam. I noticed the grey one right away, and knew it was Paul. He stopped in his tracks and started to wildly look around. He let out a low, painful whimper. Before he looked in my direction though, he snapped his head back up front and followed the rest of the pack. Sam probably ordered him to come.

I looked around, and noticed that we were near the meadow. This place was the only place that I knew around by heart because I was here so often. I decided to take a different path, hopefully catching her off guard from the front and killing her there.

As I was running, I caught a new scent, and knew that the Cullens were out. Maybe that was why she didn't think I would go over the treaty line! I bet when the Cullens were out, the pack didn't cross the treaty line either.

I kept getting closer and closer to Victoria, when I heard Alice shout, "Edward!_ NO_!"

I bursted through the woods into a clearing and saw Paul and Edward fighting on the La Push side. Victoria was long gone by now.

I raced towards the fight and barged into one of them. I bit him, my impulse taking over, and heard a screeching sound. I threw him into a tree and snarled.

It took me a minute to understand what I just did. My eyes widened in shock, and when I looked over at the Cullens, I saw that Alice was astonished with me as well.

I just attacked _Edward_. Not Paul, but _Edward_. I looked over at him, his hand that I ripped off a few feet away. He grabbed it and attached it back to his once perfect body. The venom securely glued it back, but I knew from then on that he wasn't perfect. Maybe Jake was right; nobody can be that perfect.

When I looked back at him, I didn't feel what I normally felt. I still loved him, but not as much as I once did. What did that mean? Was I only in love with him because I thought he was perfect?

Did that mean that I wasn't in love with Edward, but instead only what I imagined him to be?

* * *

_duh duh duhh! so she's finally getting over Edward and moving on to Paul! :D I didn't entirely like the end of this chapter, but it was the only way I could think of making the transition without waiting forever. So, now there's two choices that I could go with this story, and I would like to see what your input is :)_

_1. the wolf pack and the Cullens find out now what Bella is_

_2. they find out later in the story_

_3. Paul or Edward__ is the only one that finds out what Bella is right now_

_so leave me a review telling me what you would like to see what happens, and even if you don't have a preference, leave me a comment saying how im doing with this :D_

_and thank you again to my lovely reviewers! :D_


	7. Chaos

_hey everyone! 32 reviews? that's freaking insane! I love you guys so much! :D when I opened my inbox, I was literally jumping with joy, and I got the weirdest looks from my friends. They seriously thought something was wrong with me haha but thank you so muuuchh! :D_

_chapter seven! thanks for all of your votes on where the story should go, and the winner is ... you'll have to read to find out :P I hope you all like where this is going, and reviews are greatly appreciated! :D_

* * *

_"Secrets are made to be found out with time."  
__~ Charles Sanford_

I turned back around and saw the wolves staring at me. I refused to look at any one of them in the eye. Eyes were what gave a person away, and if one wolf saw my eyes, then they all would. Especially Jake and Paul. Stupid mind link.

_Who are you?_

I jumped back in surprise and let out a loud whimper. Where the heck did that come from?

Sam walked over and stood in front of me. I kept my eyes to the side of him, hoping that he wouldn't notice who I was.

_I'm sorry if I scared you. Don't you know about the mind link?_

_I know about the one between your own pack, but I never knew that you could communicate between two different packs_, I said back to him. This was incredibly strange. I thought you could only communicate with other wolves in your own pack.

_That makes sense. The Alpha's of two different packs can form a mind link. But who are you?_

I struggled with this answer. Should I tell them now who I am? But with Edward so close, he could easily read their minds and then I would blow my cover. J_ust a friend_, I said.

_You can tell us your name, you know._

_I know I can, and maybe I will, but not until later._

He let out a huff. _Okay then. Let's try this. Are a boy or a girl? I would think that you're most likely a boy, but no offense, if you are a boy, you sound like a girl._

_I'm a girl._

His eyes widened in surprise. _Really? So that's means Leah isn't the only girl shapeshifter! Wait until the Elders hear about this. Are you Quileute?_

_Part Quileute. My grandfather was half Quileute._

_So do you live in La Push?_

_No._

_Forks?_

I paused, not sure what to say. If I say Forks, then they'll be closer at figuring out who I am.

_No_, I finally answered.

_That's a lie_, he said. _You took to long to answer that._

I let out a huff as well. _Fine, I do._

"Why are you thinking in Japanese?" Edward asked. I turned my head around, and saw Edward staring at Alice. Alice stared back, her face still not revealing anything. I internally thanked her.

"You know that I think in that language sometimes, Edward. No need to get so mad," Alice said.

"You usually only think in that language when you have something to hide."

"Usually is the key word. I'm not hiding anything now," Alice said passively.

"I don't think now is the time to be arguing," Carlisle said. "Tell us what they are saying instead, Edward."

He looked back over at Sam. "I can't figure out what the new mutt is thinking because I can't hear her thoughts," he said. I involuntarily whimpered. "But they found out that she lives in Forks, she's a girl, and her grandfather was half Quileute."

"So another person can evade your power?" Carlisle asked.

"I suppose," Edward said, getting madder. I knew that he never liked not being able to read my mind, but the thought that he couldn't read another's mind must make him furious, especially if he thought that I was just some "mutt."

"No name?"

"She's not saying."

Carlisle looked over toward me, and I once again evaded his eyes. "You can tell us what your name is. None of us are going to hurt you."

I shook my head no. _I'll be going now_, I said to Sam.

I turned around and began to walk away, feeling the breeze rush through my fur. Before I got even ten steps away, a loud whimper sounded from behind me. I recognized it as Paul's, and I couldn't make myself move. I felt drawn to him, like I wanted to make the pain he was feeling go away.

"Why don't you come back with us and tell us your story?" Carlisle suggested once he saw that I stopped moving. I mentally thanked him for giving me an excuse to come back and see Paul, without blowing my cover. I turned around and walked back over, standing as close to Paul as I could without giving myself away.

I snuck a glance at him, and my heart broke. He was lying on the ground, his paws over his head, and his eyes shut. A brown wolf, who I assumed to be Jared, was watching over him, trying to move Paul's paws with his nose.

With no luck, Jared tried to push Paul over. Paul still wouldn't move, so Jared bit him. Paul jumped up and tried to bit him back, but Jared moved just fast enough out of the way to get away from the full blow. Paul still nicked Jared in the stomach, though. I felt proud of him for getting Jared.

Even hurt, Jared had a proud grin on his face, probably from getting Paul back to his normal self. Paul growled at Jared, and Sam stepped between them. He glared at both of them, and Paul stopped looking at Jared, while Jared took the smug grin off of his face.

"So is that a yes to telling us your story?" Carlisle asked.

When Carlisle spoke, Paul took his attention to me. I was still looking at Paul, so when he looked at me, our eyes met. _Fuck!_ I thought, panicked.

Everything after that happened extremely fast.

Sam looked over at me with a confused expression, so I assumed that I swore out loud.

Paul's eyes widened and happiness filled them. A wolfish grin broke out onto his face, and he was about to walk towards me.

Jake, however, whipped his head around to face Paul, and then back towards me. With a loud snarl, he lunged at Paul, who was defenseless at the moment. He threw Paul into a tree, which broke and fell from the impact. Paul stood up and lunged back at Jake, scratching him in the back, which caused his fur to turn slightly red from the blood.

I ran towards them to stop the fight, but Edward pulled me and threw me away from them. He winced as I crashed into the tree, but he was still fuming. "Why didn't you tell me!" he roared.

"Stop it, Edward!" Alice yelled. She stood between me and Edward.

I looked around me, at all of the chaos. I tried shutting my eyes to ignore it all, but the sounds of all the fighting still surrounded me, mocking me for what I caused.


	8. Sparks Fly

hi everyone! so you have no idea how sorry I am for how late this is, but I got writer's block, and I had no inspiration :/ but I think I got my inspiration back! :)

96 reviews? :D that makes me so happy! and we're almost at 100! thank you all soooo much! :D

so I hope you all enjoy this, and I promise that the next update won't be so late. I left myself off with a better spot this time haha and that will be my new year's resolution (to update sooner), even though its a couple days late :P (and how many of you love Taylor Swift's new album? I know I do! haha)

also, I made a banner for this story. I was going to make a trailer, but there a absolutely no Paul clips :( but here's the link to the banner (replace the (dot) with . in the address bar). I don't own any of the individual images! - www (dot) bannerfans (dot) com/summerecho11/banner_438397/page_1 - or the link is on my profile

enjoy!

* * *

_You're the kind of reckless that should send me running, but I kinda know that I won't get far..._

_My mind forgets to remind me, you're a bad idea._

_You touch me once and it's really something._

_You find I'm even better than you imagine I would be._

~ Sparks Fly, _Taylor Swift_

_

* * *

_

I took a huge breath and opened my eyes. Everyone was facing towards their opponent - Jacob with Paul, and Alice with Edward, with the Cullens and the rest of the Pack trying to stop the fight.

I couldn't take it anymore, and so I ran. I went a good three miles before I could here the sound of running behind me, but they couldn't catch up to me. I was the smallest one there, and my small body allowed me to be the fastest.

I jumped over rocks and swerved around trees. By the time I was getting tired, I could only hear one person behind me. It either had to be Edward, Jacob, or Paul. It could be Alice too, but I highly doubt anyone else would still be chasing after me.

I ran until I reached a dead end. I ended up at a large rock overhanging a cliff that was above the ocean. It was a picture perfect scene, one that you would put in postcards. At that moment I lost sense of what was around me and went back four years ago.

_"Wouldn't be amazing, just once, to see the ocean?" Sydney asked. She was my best friend in Arizona. We met in the beginning of sixth grade, and we were best friends ever since._

_"That would be so nice. Imagine feeling the breeze in your hair as you look out into a clear blue ocean," I gushed._

_"You know what would be even better? To be in your own secluded spot, like a cliff over the ocean. Your in tranquility there, you know? I've always loved scenes like that. Even in they're only pictures, they make me calm. What about you?"_

_"I know exactly what you mean. Let's make a promise," I said to her. "We'll go a place like that together one day. Just you and me. It'll be the best vacation of our lives."_

_"Deal," she said back, and we pinky promised. Yeah, I know, pinky promise? Well, it worked for us. We never broke one, except for that one._

I was broken out of my thoughts by a nudge in the shoulder. I looked over and saw Paul in wolf form. He nodded his head over to the clothes that were tired around his ankle, and I nodded my head in return. He went over to one side of the forest, and I went to the other to change.

When I put on all my clothes, I walked back over to the edge of the cliff and saw Paul waiting there.

"So are you the only one who came?" I asked him quietly. I wondered if any of them actually cared now since they knew what I was.

"Yeah, I was the only one to get out of that mess. The pack is trying to calm Jake down, and the bloodsuckers are still growling at one another."

At least they had a reason for not coming, right? It's not like they were completely ignoring me.

We sat in silence for a while. This silence was actually nice; it was comfortable - something that I was not expecting. I always thought that anytime anyone spent with the hothead was in an argument, or something to that extent.

"So why didn't you tell me? Or Jake? Or any of us?" Paul asked, finally breaking the silence.

"I was going to." I looked down at my lap and put a strand of hair behind my ear. "Trust me, I really was. I just never got the chance to. I couldn't bring myself to tell any of you guys since the bonfire, and I never really knew how you would react if I told you beforehand, so I just kept quiet."

"But wouldn't it have been better to tell us instead of us finding out like this?"

"Well, I didn't really mean for you to find out like this either. Guess the wolf's out of the bag, huh?" I said, mimicking Jared.

He laughed. "I guess so."

"How do you think they're all going to react?" I asked. Truthfully, I was scared of the answer.

"Once Jake calms down, I'm sure he'll be fine. He'll be all over you again," he growled. "And the others will be fine too. They're not really going to care all that much. They just be happy to invite you into our little group." By the time he talked about the pack, he was calm again. I figured Jake just bugged him more than I thought.

He laid on his back with his arms behind his head. I looked down at him. "So you don't think they'll be mad?"

"No. Why would they? They might be confused on why you didn't tell them before." He paused, and sat upright. "Actually, they'll be confused on how the heck you are one. I thought neither one of your parents were Quileute."

"See..umm...well," I stuttered. "My dad is part Quileute. My great-grandma cheated on my great-grandpa one night while she was drunk. She got pregnant with the guy's baby, but she didn't realize that it was that guy's baby until much later, and that guy was a Quileute. She and my great-grandpa were trying to have a baby, so she thought it was his, and its not like looks were a problem, because not many of the Quileute genes were passed down to the baby. So those Quileute genes got passed down to my grandpa, and then Charlie, and then me."

"How did you find all this out?"

"I found her diary stacked away in some old boxes in Charlie's house."

He nodded his head.

"So," I said. "Do you think we should see how everyone is holding up?" I finally gained enough confidence to go back.

He grimaced. "Sure," he replied gruffly. He stood up and offered me a hand, but I didn't take it. "I'm not gonna bite," he said. I rolled my eyes, suppressed a smile, and took his hand.

I was about to let go and head into the forest when he made the grip on my hand stronger. "Bella," he said.

I turned around. "Yeah? I thought we were gonna go back," I said, pointing back to the forest.

"Look," he said, struggling for the words. He let out a huff, frustrated because I guess he couldn't find the right words, but what was there to say anyways?

He looked at me, pulled me closer, and before I could even realize what was happening, he kissed me on the lips. I felt a spark inside of me as soon as our lips touched. Without thinking, I kissed him back. He pulled me closer and I grabbed onto the back of his neck. I was surprised at myself for doing this because it wasn't Edward, but I couldn't stop. It felt _incredible_. Sooner than I hoped, he pulled back and rested his forehead on mine. "Your place is with us, Bella," he said before he let me go and rushed into the woods.


	9. On the Outside

hiii everyone! thank you much for all your reviews and support! I love all of your comments :) WE REACHED OVER 100 REVIEWS! :D that is so amazing! you have no idea how excited I got when I saw that! :D so another part of the plot is coming in in this chapter, so I hope you all enjoy it! and I know I've kept you waiting long enough for this thing, so I'm gonna stop talking now. thank you and enjoy! :D

* * *

_I'm on the outside. I'm looking in. I can see through you, see your true colors. Cause inside you're ugly. You're ugly like me. I can see through you, see to the real you._

~ Outside, _Staind_

_

* * *

_

My mind was spinning as I saw him rush into the woods. _Wow. _And I thought Edward was good. Paul sure beat him. I lightly touched my lips, still in a daze, and a small smile made its way onto my lips. I could definitely get used to that.

I took my clothes off again and phased. I ran until I could hear the rest of the pack and the Cullens in the woods. I slowed down and tried to sneak up on them, trying to figure what the heck was going on. No one noticed me as I hid behind the tree.

"Why didn't she tell me? Any of us? Why not even the mutts?" Edward seethed.

"Do you still like her?" Rosalie asked, coldly. She hated me even more now, I was sure of it.

Edward was silent. What did that mean? That he didn't like me and he didn't want to admit it? Or that he did and he didn't want to admit it to himself that he liked a werewolf?

What one did I want to happen more?

"Edward?" Alice said.

He looked at her. "I don't know," he finally said. "I just don't know. Half of me says that I do, and half of me says that I don't. I can't get over the fact that she lied to me about this. I just don't -"

"Did you even ask her?" Alice said.

"What?" Edward asked, baffled.

"Did you ever ask her about being a werewolf?"

"No. How was I supposed to know? There were no signs, no hints, no nothing. And why are you so calm about this? Even Carlisle and Esme are uncomfortable."

"If you didn't ask, don't say that she lied to you. And I've known. I figured it out. And when I asked her about it, she told me. Simple as that."

I phased back and put my clothes back on. "It's true," I said as I walked into the clearing. "She figured it out."

"Bella," Edward said, sounding pained. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I was afraid of this," I said, motioning to everyone around me. "You flipped out, and you _never_ flip out. You almost always act kind of emotionless. You're like a statue. Not saying that's a bad thing or anything, but how you reacted is so much different than what you truly are, and it scared me to think about your reaction. I was scared that something like this was going to happen. And I was right."

"So besides being a clumsy human and a werewolf, you're a psychic now too?" Rosalie sneered.

"Look, I know that you don't like me, but please, I really can't deal with all of this right now," I said back, starting to get a headache. It was true, I really couldn't deal with all of it.

"I can't deal with this either," Edward said. "I've got to go." He ran off before I could tell him not to go.

"I'm sorry Bella, but we've all got to go check on Edward," Carlisle said. I nodded my head, and they all left. I turned to the rest of the wolves, but they were all gone to. I sighed and fell to the ground.

"Why do I go and mess everything up?"

I felt warm, strong arms wrap around me. I immediately felt at ease. "Don't you ever think that you messed things up." I smiled to myself. He sure knew how to make me feel better.

"Yeah, you don't mess_ everything_ up. Only a few things," Jared joked.

"Shut up," Paul growled from behind me.

"It's alright," I said to him. "He's only joking."

"Come to my place and we can talk things over," Sam said. I nodded my head, and Paul and I stood up. We started walking back to Sam's house.

"So how did you first phase?" Embry asked.

I bit my lip. "I really don't feel like talking about that. It's kinda embarrassing."

"Oh, come on. We've all had pretty bad ones. We're not gonna laugh."

"It's not that kind of embarrassing. It's more like it was a really petty reason to phase."

"Come on," Jared said, punching me in the shoulder. "What was it about?"

"A boy," I said softly.

"A boy? That's not bad. A lot of us phased because of relationship problems."

"Yeah, well I'm pretty sure that your relationship problems were a little more problematic. I phased because a boy in my seventh grade class stood me up for a dance."

They all stopped in their tracks. "_Seventh grade?_" they all exclaimed.

"That means you were like 12!" Sam said.

"Yeah?" I drawled out. "Is that bad?"

"N-no," Paul said. "It's just... surprising."

"Why? When was the youngest you guys phased?"

"I was 15," Seth said.

"Oh. Well, thats only three years difference."

"That's still a lot," Sam said.

By this time, we reached Sam's house. We walked into the door and I saw Emily making food. She turned around. "It's nice to see you again, Bella!"

"It's nice to see you too," I smiled.

I turned around trying to find Paul to ask him where the bathroom was when I saw Jake head into the house. He didn't say anything during our walk, so I completely forgot that he was with us. I felt my heart plummet. He looked so sad, so _depressed_. I had to talk to him after.

I looked around a little more and found Paul to my left. He was so close, how could I have missed him before?

"Hey Paul, where's the bathroom?"

"Go upstairs, take a left, and it's the second door on the right."

"Thanks," I said and headed up the stairs. I walked into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. I grimaced. My hair was a mess, and I had dirt all over me. My shirt was ripped, and the little bit of makeup that I had on was smudged. I wasn't one to care much about appearances, but this was just _bad_.

I washed my face and tried to fix my hair. After making sure I was at least somewhat presentable, I grabbed a towel off the rack and wiped my face to dry it off. I heard two pieces of paper fall to the ground. I looked at the floor and saw the two pieces of paper lying on the ground. They must have been hidden in the towel.

I bent down and grabbed the pieces of paper on the floor. I looked at the first one.

_I'm sorry I missed you this morning, but I can't wait until tonight. I love you so much Em :)_

_-Sam_

I smiled to myself, although slightly envious of their relationship. It sounded so nice to have someone like that. I put the note back onto the counter and looked at the one behind it.

_Thanks a lot for looking for me. I thought I meant more to you than that, but I guess not. I was counting on you, you know? But you failed me. You never even tried. Are you going to try for your friends, or are you going to leave them like you left me? I guess we'll find out soon, huh?_

_- Syd_


	10. The Story of Us

A/N: ahh, I'm so sorry that's it has been so long since my last update! I got my motivation back and summer is finally here (yes! :D) so expect more frequent updates! (so sorry I had to put you through that torture :/) so I wanna keep this author's note sweet and simple so you can enjoy the story, so there are four things that I wanted to say:  
1. I've uploaded new things onto my youtube account, so if you have the time, please go check them out! I think you might enjoy them haha all of them are on my profilee. and how many people would be interested in a trailer or video for this story? I would love for some feedback if you guys want it :) and do you know where I might be able to find some Paul clips if I do make a trailer?  
2. How many guys have gone to a Taylor Swift concert this year? One of my friends is going tonight and I'm so jealous! haha  
3. I also made a banner for this story! :) you can find the link on my profile, or use this: www (dot) bannerfans (dot) com/summerecho11/banner_438397/page_1  
4. thank you all so much for your reviews/favorites/alerts! you guys are making this my most read story, and every time I see something in my mail from this, its makes my day! :D enjoy!

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_"Oh, a simple complication, miscommunications lead to fallout. So many things that I wish you knew. So many walls up, I can't break through."_

~ The Story of Us, _Taylor Swift_

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My eyes widened in shock and I couldn't move. How was this even possible? The last time I talked to her was about a year ago. Her parents never told me where she went, but I always assumed that she went missing. She was my best friend in the entire world. It took me over a year to fully get over her and try to move on, and now I get this note? _What is going on?_

I slid the note into my back pocket to look at it later and think about it more. I couldn't do it here though. There were too many people here and if I broke down, I didn't want to explain anything to them. That was still my own little secret.

I forgot that I had to go to the bathroom and instead headed downstairs, ready to make some excuse on why I couldn't stay longer.

"I forgot that I have to help Charlie around the house. Sorry guys, I'll see you tomorrow," I said as I ran out the door, not waiting for an answer. Although it took a long time, I ran all the way home. I said hi to Charlie and went straight to my room. Falling onto my bed, I covered my face with my hands and groaned. This was not how I planned things out.

I stiffened as I smelt a new scent in the room. I didn't smell like Edward which made me worried, but it was strangely comforting. Slowly, I looked up. Paul was standing in my bedroom, the window was open, and he had his shirt off. His nice, toned body was staring back at me. Crap.

"Like what you see?" he asked, smirking at me. I looked up and scowled at him. Then I turned back to my bed and put my face in my pillow.

"Getoutaere," I mumbled into the pillow.

"What?" he asked. "You were mumbling."

"I said get out of here." I said. "I don't want anyone here right now."

"No," he said. "I need to talk to you about something." He sat down on my bed and put his hand on my foot. "What's this note about?"

I sat straight-up, my eyes wide. "What note are you talking about?" I asked. I tried to keep the nervousness out of my voice, but I don't think I succeeded.

"This note," he said as he pulled out the note from Syd from his back pocket. My heart started racing and I discreetly checked my back pocket. The note wasn't there.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, trying to make it seem like the note wasn't mine.

"Right," he said sarcastically. "I saw it fall out of your pocket."

"So you were following me?"

"I wasn't following you. Think of it as a friend returning something to another friend." My heart fluttered as he said I was his friend.

"You were following me," I stated.

He shrugged. "Whatever you want to believe. I didn't read it if you were wondering. I just saw the name Syd. But I want to know what's in it."

"Don't you think it's a little too soon to be asking about my personal life?"

"Nope. I'll be waiting here all night to hear the story too, so don't think you're gonna get out of telling me it."

I groaned.

"I really don't feel like talking about it right now. It's a sore subject for me and its difficult to explain. Maybe in - hey! Get out of there!"

Paul was looking through my desk drawers and fiddling with everything in it. He pulled out a poster with Jesse McCartney's face plastered all over it with little hearts and smiley faces surrounding the pictures. A large smile grew on his face while I scrunched my face up, waiting for the snarky comment that was sure to happen.

"You know, I never knew you were the boy band fangirl type."

"Shut up," I said. "You happy? You know something personal now. He's kinda my celebrity crush."

"Oh, so I got some competition now?" he asked jokingly, but he had a serious glint in his eyes. I could tell by the way he stared at me that he was actually waiting for an answer. He was actually extremely serious about this question.

"Look," I said, bringing in courage I never thought I had. "Everything that's happened in the past twenty-four hours is a lot to take in, and I need time to think about this imprinting thing. And I also need time to... settle things with my love life, so I can't really go into this whole loving soul-mate thing yet."

I heard him take a few deep breaths. "Okay. We can still hangout though, right?" he pleaded, which surprised me because I could tell that he was the kind of person that never pleaded.

"Sure," I said with a smile. "I think I'd like to get to know you better."

"Great!" he exclaimed. "And we can start with the letter."

I groaned again. "You're not gonna let this go, are you?" He shook his head. "Okay, what if everyday I'll ask you something, and if you get it right, I'll tell you one part of the story. There should at least be some sort of a challenge if I'm gonna tell you this."

I wasn't exactly sure why I was agreeing to telling him my story. Maybe it was because of the imprint thing, or maybe it was because I felt extremely comfortable around him.

"Sure," he said. "How bad could they be?"

"Only I will know," I said smugly.

"So, can we start today?"

"I guess. Okay, so name a sport I did when I was younger."

"But you've never told me anything about you!" he protested.

"Well, I guess you'll get it wrong tonight, and I'll keep asking the question until you get it right. I think it's a great way to learn things about people." Actually, it was just a good way for him to get the questions wrong.

"Fine. You danced," he said with certainty.

My mouth fell open. "How did you know that?"

He shrugged. "I know stuff," he simply said. "Now it's your turn to tell me."

I sighed. "Sydney was my best friend when I was younger. She was there when I first phased."

"So she saw your phase?" I nodded. "Did you hurt her?" I shook my head. "Wow. She's lucky."

"Yeah, she was."

"So what happened then?"

"Don't think you're gonna get anything else out of me," I said with a smirk. "You're gonna have to wait for tomorrow. A new day, a new question, a new answer."

"Fine." He sighed in defeat. "So, I was wondering if-"

"Bella! I need to talk to you!"

"Shoot! You need to get out of here!" I pushed Paul towards the window and he jumped out. "And don't tell anyone what I told you!" I ordered, and he ran off. Yeah right, the whole pack would probably know by tomorrow. I sighed in exasperation and closed the window right as Charlie walked in.

"Are you going to bed?" he asked as he looked around my room.

"Yeah. It's been a long day."

"Okay, well then goodnight Bells."

"Goodnight."

He left the room and I shut the door behind him. After changing into my pajamas, I crawled into bed. My mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. How was all of this even possible? And I don't even know why I told Paul that I would eventually tell him what happened. All I'm hoping is that he won't get anymore questions right. As I fell into a deep sleep, I wished that I would stay in my perfect dream world and not have to wake up to the real, complicated world surrounding me.

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**goldeneyes123** _- all of it will be explained in this and future chapters, so be prepared :P hope you're enjoying it!_


	11. Leave You Behind vs Stay With You

**A/N:** so I know I promised more frequent updates, and I'm really sorry about that! things just got out of control :/ but I'm back with another chapter! you guys are freaking amazing with all of the favorites/alerts/reviews! :D I absolutely adore you people! :D **Edit:** the responses are now up! :) and now, enjoy the next chapter of _Deadly Secrets! _:)

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_And I'll stay with you. The walls will fall before we do. So take my hand now. We'll run forever. I can feel the storm inside you. I'll stay with you._

~ Stay With You, _The Goo Goo Dolls_

* * *

I woke up the next morning with a pounding headache. I've never had a hangover (I've never even drank before), but I imagined that this is what it would feel like.

It was Sunday, and I promised myself that I would try to make everything right today. First I'd start with the Cullens, and then I'd move onto to Jake. I winced as I remember how he looked last night. Was that really how he felt on the inside when he saw me with Edward?

I took a shower, got dressed, finished getting ready, and was ready to go out the door in 45 minutes. I took the car keys, went out the door, climbed in the front seat, and started driving. I don't think the Cullens would be extremely happy if I showed up on their front steps in my wolf form.

The Cullens were already outside by the time I arrived. I gulped and got out of my truck.

"Hello, Bella," Alice greeted with a smile. I wish I could say that the others did that as well. Instead, they were all silent. Great.

"Hi Alice," I said before turning to the rest of the group. "Look, I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry about this whole situation. I never meant for you all to find out about it like this. I was going to plan out this great speech or whatever and tell you with that, but as you can see -"

"Bella," Edward said, cutting me off.

"No, Edward. I have to finish this before I never get a chance too." I paused, taking a deep breath. "I know I never told you guys, and I really am sorry about that, but I was going to tell you eventually. I was just waiting for the right time. And now I realize that the right time was probably when I first realized you were a vampire, but at the time I didn't think that. I thought I would get to know you guys first, and then tell you when I thought it wouldn't affect our friendship, but I never found that time. Why do you think I was always trying to ease the tension between you guys and the werewolves? It was because I believe that you two should be friends with each other, or at least give the chance for that to happen. It shouldn't matter what kind of creature you are. We should all get along well together. And that's the moment I was waiting for to happen to tell you guys. I really am sorry that I let it get this far." I looked around at everyone, waiting for someone to speak.

No one did.

"I am done now, if you guys want to talk," I said sheepishly.

Everyone looked at Edward, waiting for him to speak.

I should've know that would've happened. Everyone in that family respected each other and were really close to one another. I was always secretly jealous of that fact. Although I love Charlie and Renée, we were never really extremely close with each other. I could never tell them anything personal, and we seemed disconnected as a family. I always envisioned myself becoming a part of the Cullens close-knit family; I could finally have the type of family I never had as a kid. I love my parents, but they never fully gave me what I wanted.

"Bella," Edward said, breaking me out of my thoughts. "In my head I understand what you did and why you did it, but I still cannot get over all of this. I need some time, and we have decided to go visit the other vampire family in Alaska for a while. I'm sorry."

And then he was off. It barely processed in my mind that he wasn't standing before me anymore. The rest of the Cullens said their goodbyes as well. Rosalie even said goodbye to me, and she didn't look like she completely hated me either, which had me confused. Carlisle said something about looking too young for their respective ages in addition to his goodbye. I didn't fully understand what he said, though. It was only Edward and Alice that were on my mind. Eventually all of the Cullens left until it was just me and Alice.

"So are you going to leave again, too?"

She looked back to where her family left. The wind whipped her short, brown hair in her face and rustled her clothes. She turned back to me with sad eyes.

"I wouldn't think of this as goodbye, Bella. We'll be back. Edward will make the right choice and come back and apologize to you, saying how stupid he was." She laughed sadly. "I promise you we'll be back. And in the meantime, I'll email you and we _will_ keep in touch. I'm not having what happened last time happen this time. Our friendship's to important for that." She smiled and came forward to hug me. "You'll always have me as your friend and here to help you, Bella," she whispered in my ear, too softly for anyone but me to hear. "Remember that." With that, she let me go, waved goodbye, and then flew off in the direction that the rest of her family went.

I stood frozen in my spot for a little while, but I made a promise to myself that I would never let what happened to me when Edward left the first time to happen again, so eventually I left and started walking home.

I walked down their long driveway with my arms over my stomach. I felt slightly sick, but I pushed everything that happened to the back of my mind. Most of the sickness eventually went away by the time I reached the road, but a small part was always there, and I suspected it would be there for a long time.

I took me a while to realize that my feet weren't actually taking me home and that I left my car at the Cullen's. As I glanced around at the scenery, I realized that I was actually walking towards La Push. I passed the treaty line and my insides turned warm. I tightened my arms around my stomach in surprise. Was I really that happy to be here? I shook my head, trying to get those thoughts out of my head. I should still be sad from the fact that my friends just left. So why wasn't I extremely sad anymore?

I continued walking down the road until I got to a small car maintenance shop. I glanced at a cooler and immediately was thirsty. I hadn't had a drink since last night. I walked up to the shop to see if I could maybe buy a drink, but it didn't seem like anyone was there.

"Hello?" I called out. "Is anyone there?"

"Yeah, hold on," I heard someone say. An extremely toned man came out from under a car. He was shirtless and you could see his defined abs. Blotches of oil were littered across his chest. I could feel my face turn red, and I quickly looked to the side. "What do you..." And then he stopped talking.

I turned to face him and my eyes widened as I realized it was Paul. "Oh..." I trailed off. I did not expect him to be there. "Hi."

"Hey. What's up?" he asked as he wiped his hands on a rag that he had tucked into his pants.

"I just came up here to see if I could buy a drink," I explained, pointing to the cooler.

"Yeah, go ahead. Take one for free," he said.

"Thanks." I grabbed a can of Coke and sat down next to the car. "So what're you doing?"

"Car has an oil leak. I was fixing it up for an old friend."

"Gotcha. Any friend I would know?"

"No, probably not. He lives up on the Makah reservation." He then turned his attention from the car to me. "Are you alright?" he asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I've been better. The Cullens left again."

To say I was surprised at Paul's reaction would be an understatement. Instead jumping for joy or doing something similar to that like I expected, he started shaking. He started breathing deeply, and I knew he was trying to control his anger as much as he could. It took a few minutes, but eventually he calmed down.

"Well that wasn't the type of reaction I was expecting," I said. "I thought you'd be extremely happy that they were gone."

"Don't get me wrong, I am happy that they're gone." I shot him a confused look. Why did he get so mad before if he's happy they're gone? "I'm mad because they just got up and left you again. Every moment you spent with Jake when the Cullens were gone was shared with us. Jake didn't want that, but it's kind of hard to stop thinking about that kind of thing. And remember, we were the ones that found you in the woods that night."

"So you know what happened when they left?"

He nodded. "I don't want to see that happen to you again," he said with a dead serious look on his face. "Although you seem to be pretty fine this time around."

It took me a little while to respond. The whole pack knew how bad I was when I was in my depressed state. Who knew that I affected that many people?

"Was Jake..." I paused, trying to find the right words. "Was he really affected by all of that? Did he worry a lot, or did his personality change?"

"He did worry a lot. You were always on his mind, but he always seemed happy to be around you. He was really mad at the Cullens for leaving you. There was a good few weeks where things became tense between the pack because of disagreements."

I groaned. "I really messed up that time, didn't I?"

He wrapped an arm around me. "I wouldn't worry about it. It's all in the past. Just promise me something."

"What?"

"Promise me that if you ever feel that way again, you'll go to someone for help. Never, ever go through it alone. Please promise me that."

He looked so sincere I couldn't say no. "Of course. You can even drag me to a therapist if I don't do go myself," I said with a grin, but then I became serious again. "You totally don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but this seems really personal to you. Did anything happen with a situation like this?"

He took a deep breath before he spoke. "Just like you have your secrets with this Syd person, stuff happened with my friends that we don't like talking about. But it's a new day isn't it?" he asked, quickly changing the subject. "Doesn't that mean I get to know something new about that letter?"

"Fine," I said with reluctance. "What's my favorite movie genre?" I didn't think I ever said anything concerning this, so I thought I was in the clear.

He sat there for a while, thinking. "You don't really seem like an action kind of girl, and you also don't seem like a horror person, despite the fact that you're friends with two major characters in horror films," he said with a grin. "I also don't think your favorite is comedy. I'm going to say you like the chick-flick romantic stuff."

So maybe I was wrong. "Screw you," I said, pouting. He did a fist pump in the air, making me laugh. "What do you want to know this time?"

He didn't speak for a little bit. "Why were you so surprised at getting a note from her?"

"How did you know I was surprised?"

He pointed to his ears. "We have supersonic hearing, remember? I could hear you gasp and stop moving, so I assumed that that was when you got the letter. The imprint bond doesn't hurt either," he said with a shrug.

Right. I forgot about the imprint situation.

"A year ago," I started, "Sydney went missing. Her body was never found, but after weeks of searching, it was assumed that she was dead. I was so miserable those first few weeks that I... I did some things I'm not exactly proud of, and I didn't even think to go look for her. It was only in the last two weeks that I got enough strength to go searching. By that time, any scent that I could have followed was gone, and I couldn't find her. When I found the note in Sam's bathroom, I freaked out because everyone assumed that she was dead. I highly doubt that someone did this as a joke, so the only thing that I could think of was that she is actually out there and blaming me for her disappearance."

"Wow... That's... not what I expected."

"I didn't think it would be," I said. I didn't think anyone would think that.

"I'm really sorry that all of that happened, Bella. But I promise that we'll figure it all out." I looked over at him and saw his sincere face. He really, truly wanted to help me out. I couldn't think of a time when someone wanted to help me out that bad. I kind of liked it.

I smiled at him. "Thanks. I appreciate that."

I took a sip of my soda and was about to say bye when he said, "Do you want to come over my house tomorrow? We can just hangout and watch a movie or something."

I paused. Should I? Would I be stable enough to go over his house? Or would it help me get over everything? I already felt better just talking to him now.

"Sure. What time?"

"Five?" Perfect. It gave me enough time to go talk to Jake tomorrow before I went over Paul's house.

"Sounds good. I have to go, but see you then!"

I got up, waved bye, and walked home. By the time I got home, Charlie was already sitting on the couch with a take-out bag in his hands. I shook my head at him and continued up the stairs. I opened my bedroom door and saw a white envelope on my bed.

I slowly started towards my bed and took the envelope off of it. With shaking hands, I opened it and started reading.

_So I see you got a new boy toy, too. Hopefully he's not going to be as bad as Alex was. What if he stands you up? Or what if he leaves you? Are you going to turn into a vampire? A mermaid? Or maybe you'll figure out you're a demigod? You were always full of surprises, weren't you? Let's see how this one turns out._

_- Syd_

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**EmmetsGirly - **I know that it's from a previous chapter, but I just wanted to thank you for your comment! :D I'm glad you're liking it so muchh! :)

**eddiebella jackson - **Sydney is Bella's old friend from Arizona. hope that cleared things up :) and I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)

**Dean Winchesters Baby Girl - **thank you! and I know what you mean, but eventually it will get better! (you just don't know if it will get worse afterwards as well :P) hope you enjoyed the chapter!

**Liamsgurl33 - **I'm not sure what you mean by the same bathroom?

**Yelena Herondale - **thank youu! and you've got some interesting ideas! haha you've just sparked a whole new way that this story could go :P


	12. AN

Hey guys! So I just wanted to give an update on this story because I didn't want to leave you all hanging.

First off, I am SO SORRY that I haven't updated this story in forever. College apps and senior year have been extremely hectic, and getting into college is my number one priority right now haha

This story will being going on hiatus for a while until I can get a handle on time and I know that I'll actually have time to update without making the updates months in between. Therefore, I'll start updating this story once I am done with Full Moon, my other story, and I am finished with college apps, and that shouldn't take extremely long! :)

That being said, I AM NOT GIVING UP ON THIS STORY! It will be finished, and it will be good! :D

I hope you'll all come back once this story continues and enjoy it as much as you did when you first started reading! If I don't update before the year ends, have a great year and New Year's everyone! :D

summer-echo-11


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